She's Done
by whosh07
Summary: She's over it. Emily doesn't want her, that's fine. Paige is done chasing the girl.
1. Chapter 1

Pain. Confusion. Anger. These were her emotions after hearing that stupid word. Goodbye. Paige was almost breathless as she watched Emily climb into the car and drive off with the other girls. The simultaneous looks of pity and distrust doing nothing to calm the storm inside her.

For a moment, Paige could do nothing but stare at the spot no longer containing the car. She racked through her brain trying to discern what she could've said differently. As if different words would have made a difference in this situation. Part of her feels like Emily was just waiting for her to screw it up so she needed no reason to go right back to Ali's side. The other part, the one that knows Emily loves her, wishes she had acted a bit more rationally. Maybe she should've trusted Emily to handle it, but if Emily had gotten hurt.

"No. Just stop Paige," she angrily whispered to herself.

Paige couldn't apologize for her previous actions or words tonight. Allison almost killed her. She couldn't lie to Emily. Allison meant nothing to her and upon learning that she was in fact alive, the only emotion she had was pain. That girl brought nothing good to Paige's life, but yet, she saw how excited Emily was to learn she lived, and needed her help in particular. That's what hurt more than anything.

"I just don't get it."

Shaking her head, Paige started to make her way back home.

Emily told her she was letting go of Ali. Saying goodbye. Emily knew what the girl did to Paige, and yet, a minute of face-time with her and none of that even mattered. She can't help but feel when it comes to Emily Fields, she'll never matter more than her friends. Or at the very least, be equal to them.

Her pace picked up as anger started to overwhelm her. Now running, the only thought running through Paige's head was finality. She was done with it all. With Emily, with the other girls, A, and most especially with Alison.

As she neared her steps, Paige gathered her emotions. From here on out, she done apologizing for her actions. Done trying to seek approval from the person she loved. Love shouldn't be like that. You should want to share your lives, your fears, hell, you should want to at least see each other more than once a week.

"I want to swim, I want to graduate, and I want to never look back."

"Screw this place!" Paige yelled as she walked to her door.

Entering into an empty house only made Paige's conviction to get of here grow. She had no ties to Rosewood anymore. Her dad didn't care where she went as long as she was swimming.

Paige started to peel off her clothes deciding she needed a shower to get away from this day. Starting tomorrow, "It's all about me."


	2. Chapter 2

Buzzing. Why was her bed almost vibrating. Rolling over Paige saw her phone sliding around. Sighing, she grabbed it and turned it over to see who was calling her at, glancing at her clock, _6 am, great_. Her dad, _of course_. Taking a deep breath, Paige hit accept.

"Hey Dad."

"Good Morning Paige, I trust you had a good run this morning."

Glancing at her ceiling, Paige groaned as she decided to tell the truth. "No. I just woke up actually."

"Why?" He said with an air of disbelief. She could picture the confusion on his face perfectly. Lately, she'd been on a major fitness kick as she tried to ignore the fact that her girlfriend was acting like she didn't exist. Her dad was in heaven at her new found drive with this exercise regimen.

"Rough night dad. I'm about to go jump in the pool to clear my head." _Mine as well now that I'm awake._

Shuffling to the end of her bed, Paige rolled her neck as she listened to her dad chatter on about creating a routine and sticking to it. Paige occasionally inserted an "Of course" or "Your right dad," to keep him engaged. As she made her way to the bathroom, she just wanted to change and get in the water suddenly craving the rush she got from it.

"Hey dad, I know I shouldn't throw my body out of rhythm so soon after getting it into this routine, but it was just one day. It's not going to lead to more skipped days, ok?"

Silence greeted her. She groaned internally knowing she'd offended him.

"I'm only looking out for you Paige, not checking up or forcing you to do something. You wanted this."

"I know I did. I still do. Starting today it's even more about swimming and getting to Stanford. I just needed a morning off. I'm still about to hit the pool. You have nothing to worry about, I promise."

"Alright, alright, I'll back off. I was actually calling to let you know it'll be a few more days before we're back. Your mom had some new business to attend to and I don't want to leaver her here alone."

Smiling in satisfaction Paige cheerfully replied, "That's fine. You guys take care of yourselves and your clients. I'm good here." _Thank God._ Paige didn't really want to explain to her parents why Emily would no longer be visiting. _Ha, _Paige scoffed internally. _Like I would even have to. Emily hasn't been here in weeks... Still, I'd rather be alone right now._

"Haha, of course you are Paige. You love having the place to yourself. See you in a few days."

Paige just rolled her eyes, "Yeah, bye dad." Throwing her phone on the bed Paige could do nothing but shake her head. She hated being alone. She just put on a face so her parents, especially her dad didn't poke and prod her more than necessary.

Paige changed into her suit and made her way downstairs. She grabbed an apple as she made her way out onto the deck. It was still pretty dark out and Paige knew the water would be freezing. _Good ... _Paige thought, _Anything to get my_ mind _off of that girl. _Once the apple was gone, Paige was in the water.

X

"Paige!" "Hey, Paige!"

Bracing herself for the coming interrogation, Paige stopped and slowly turned back towards Pru. _This is going to be fun,_ Paige thought dryly.

"Hey Pru. Morning!"

"Hey, where were you last night? I thought we were going to study for our calc test tomorrow." Paige dropped her head. _I should just tell her and get this over with. Rip of the bandage right. Shit._

"I uh, right yeah. I... Look, I'm sorry. I forgot all about our study session." Gathering her wits, Paige continued, "I went to Emily's last night to apologize for something I did that hurt her... and it didn't go too well."

Frowning at her friend in confusion, "What do you mean you did something that hurt her. You worship the ground that girl walks on." Paige heard the slight inflection Pru put on the word girl. It wasn't a nice one.

"Gee thanks Pru!."

"What! You do. You think the sun shines out of her ass! You'd never do anything to hurt her, give me a break."

_Wow, was I really that much of a puppy dog when it came to Emily. _Pru never was very fond of their relationship. She was still Pru though, and she cared about Paige.

Looking at Paige with a softness that would bely her recent outburst, Pru quietly asked "Paige, what happened?"

_How to phrase this without mentioning Ali... "_I... I think that..." Paige sighed, "I betrayed Emily's trust in a way that pretty much broke our relationship. And our friendship I think."

Pru's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Who in the hell did you sleep with?" _Haha. _Trust Pru to sound proud about her cheating on Emily.

"I didn't cheat on her Pru, I just told someone else a secret that wasn't mine to tell. And I gave her an ultimatum about another girl that I'm not proud of, but that I don't remotely regret."

This time Pru's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. _I swear we could communicate through facial expressions alone. _"Let me get this straight, you spilled a secret that wasn't yours and essentially told her to stay away from someone else, and she ended it? Just like that! How is that enough to end a 1 1/2 year relationship?"

"It was a pretty big secret Pru." _A stupid one, but it wasn't mine ... freaking Allison._

"Wow, so you guys are just done, no trial period to get over it, nothing?"

"Yeah... I mean I think so. I asked for forgiveness and she said she didn't think she could trust me again and then she just simply said goodbye." _I, hate, that word. "_Then, she got in the car with her friends and left. I didn't see Spencer in homeroom so I'm assuming they're not back from wherever."

_Thank God. If I had to see Emily right this second I'd probably just ask her to forgive me again..._

_No, I promised I was over this. Seeing her shouldn't make a difference Paige. You don't beg, at least not anymore._

"Paige!" "Paige!"

Paige's head shot up, "What?" She asked exasperated.

"You left me there for a second. You were just staring at the floor. Did you hear a word I said?"

"No, I'm sorry, I was thinking about something and wasn't paying attention."

Smiling in annoyance, Pru lightly smacked Paige on the stomach as she said, "Yeah I noticed. Anyways, I was just saying that that didn't really sound like a breakup. You said yourself she had to leave so maybe she really was just saying goodbye." The hopeful expression on Pru's face made Paige smile. Pru really did care about her, even if she held a particular distaste for Emily.

"It was the way she said it Pru. Trust me. It was goodbye in every sense of the word." Paige would never be able to erase Emily's look from her head. No matter how over her she was trying to be. _She just looked so disappointed. I did that to her..._

"I'm sorry Paige. I know she meant a lot to you. Look at the bright side though, now you can come out with me without feeling guilty."

"Yeah, in no way am I ready to start looking at other people Pru. Emily just broke my heart. It's gonna take a while before I'll even think about it." _As if anyone in this school could... even... comp... who is that?_

Just then, a girl dropped her notebook nearby as she was shuffling the paper in her hand with all her class materials. Paige's attention was immediately drawn to the girls' legs. _Good god. Those legs look like they could go on for days. Her muscles are so defined. She has to be an athlete, or at least a runner. _

The bell rang startling Paige out of her perusal as a smirking Pru whispered into her ear, "You may not be ready to get into a relationship Paige, but you aren't celebate and that's not disgust I see in your eyes." Looking at her friend in shock, Paige's mouth opened to defend herself but Pru beat her to the punch. "There's no shame in looking McCuller's. We'll finish this chat at lunch," Pru all but yelled as she was halfway down the hall.

Paige just shook her head knowing there was no way Pru was going to let her leering go unchecked. _This is just going to be a wonderful day, _Paige thought. Taking a deep breath, Paige snuck one more glance at the girl making her way down hall. As she rounded the corner her eyes met Paige's and Paige stopped everything. _Uh oh, _she all but whimpered.


	3. Chapter 3

As Paige made her way to homeroom her thoughts were racing. _Who was that? Why was I checking her out __… __well __… __you know why you were checking her out, but c__'__mon, you just got dumped. You are in no way, ready to be looking at other people._

Making her way to the back of the class, Paige flopped into her desk as the teacher began to drone on about numbers mixed with the alphabet. Soon, everyone's attention shifted to the door as an unexpected guest made their way into the room.

As the girl was digging through her bag, the rest of the items in her hands fell to the ground as the girl let out an exasperated groan. Completely unaware of all the attention, she leaned down to gather everything back up as Mr. Ryan politely tried to get her attention with a gentle cough. Her head shot up as she realized everyone was just staring, Paige very much included as she realized it was the same girl from this morning.

As the girl got a hold of everything and started to rise back up, the teacher began his questioning.

"Hi, I'm Mr. Ryan and I don't believe I've seen you in this class before."

Staring at him as all high school students tend to, the girl simply said, "And."

Taken aback Mr. Ryan became a little less polite. "Let me put this in wording you'll understand. Why are here? In my class specifically."

Smiling at the teacher's tone she responded, "I was assigned your class as homeroom and 1st period calculus. And to answer your next question, I just transferred here from Seattle."

_Seattle huh … guess that explains the dark clothing and the beanie. _Paige's eyes continued to roam all over the girl as Mr. Ryan explained how his class worked. She was most definitely taken with everything, not just her long legs. Hair so dark it was almost blue, pale skin that was more olive than white. And to top it off, the greenest eyes Paige had ever seen. All this was covered in grey leggings under a dark dress with chucks and a dark blue leather jacket and black beanie. The girl was a walking model with the attitude to top it off as Paige finally let her eyes rest on her teacher and he looked as annoyed as she'd ever seen Mr. Ryan.

"Just go sit in the back, there's a spot by Noel. Should be easy for you to find, it's the only empty one."

"Aww look at that, teach can be snarky too. I like it." Smirking, the girl made her way to the back of the class to sit 2 seats over from Paige. As she made her way back, Paige locked eyes with her again.

_So green. I could stare at her eyes forever. _The girl rose an eyebrow as she noticed the staring contest she seemed to be in. Paige widened her eyes in realization and dipped her head down to her desk,_ Jesus Paige … get a grip. You are beyond awful and first impressions._

As Paige finally decided to look back up, she noticed that the girl's head was now buried in her notebook and she was just as zoned out as the rest of the class. Staring back down at her notebook, Paige tired to pay attention to Mr. Ryan. Math was the one subject that was absolutely killing her already mediocre GPA. If she wasn't a swimmer, Paige would undoubtably be headed for a community college. Mercifully, just as Paige was about to give up on her current equation, the bell rang and most kids shot out of their desks.

As Paige rose from her, desk she started to stuff everything back in her backpack. Slinging it on her shoulder, Paige turned to make her way out when she ran into something quite solid. Letting out a small cry of surprise … _really, we squeak now __…_Paige gulped as she realized the chucks she was staring at belonged to the new girl.

"You know, generally when I say my eyes are up here, I'm also flicking off whoever is starring at my chest, but with you, I genuinely mean it. Up here." As Paige continued to stare down, a finger appeared in her sight line pointing skyward.

Taking a deep breath Paige picked her head up. _What the hell is wrong with me. You don__'__t know this girl, you have no reason to be acting like this. She__'__s pretty, get over it Paige. Apologize and get to your next class._

Once again, Paige was looking into eyes so incredible, she felt herself getting lost again.

"There. That's better isn't it."

Clearing her throat, Paige let out a quick, "I'm sorry, excuse me" as she ducked her head again and turned to make her way around the girl.

Before she took a step however, she felt a light grip on her arm.

"What are you apologizing for. I'm the one the invaded your area." Confused, Paige looked back up as she asked, "Why, if you're looking for help in this class I'm not the one you should be asking for help." With that being said, Paige again tried to get away from the girl and get to her next class.

"I'm sorry, do I smell or something. Why the hell are you so desperate to get away from me."

Stung Paige shot back, "I'm not desperate!"

Affronted, the girl gave right back, "That's not how I meant it and you know it. I just wanted to get your name. I saw you earlier this morning and you something about you caught my interest, but clearly I didn't get yours, so no worries, I'm moving." With that, she stepped to the side to allow Paige to pass.

_You are a fucking idiot Paige. The girl that__'__s held your attention all morning just wants your name and you act like she has the black plague. No harm ever came from giving someone your name. _"Paige."

"What?"

Sighing, Paige looked to her and said, "My name is Paige. I'm sorry, I just, I'm out of it today. My life sort of changed last night and right now I don't think it was for the better. So, again, I'm sorry for being rude, but I really do need to get going." Paige looked into her eyes one more time before she made her way to the door. _Why did she have to talk to me. I just wanted these last 3 months to pass with me swimming and finishing school possibly with something nice to look at. Now there__'__s no way she__'__ll come near me and that nice reprieve is gone._

"I'm going to need you to stop apologizing when you haven't done anything wrong." Paige stopped to look back as the girl also made her way to the door. "And for the record," she said as she all but invaded Paige's personal space, "you caught my interest and I have a habit of having to know why something has grabbed my attention. So Paige, for your reference, my name is Julia, and I'll see you around."

Looking Paige up and down, Julia gave Paige a small smile as she left the room.

Stunned, Paige just stood there in a trance. _Huh, who wants to get to know someone after an intro like that. No one thinks I__'__m interesting. Clearly something is wrong with her. I need normal right now. As a matter of fact, I don__'__t need any new girls in my life. I__'__m out of this awful place in 3 months._

Shaking her head, Paige made her way to Englsih all the while, she couldn't seem to shake the color green from her thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4

Sometimes, there are moments in life that steal your breath. A breath that you can never get back and would never want back. Sometimes, those moments are what you live for. You want time to stop and you want to remain in that space forever, infinitely in awe of whatever has captured you so thoroughly.

And sometimes, those moments are what kill you. The moment when your breath leaves you and pain rips so deep your soul feels fractured and your body feels like it's caught underwater. Those are the moments you never want to experience again.

One week, just one week after losing the person that stole your breath in the best way possible, she manages to do it in the worst way. Everything stops for you as you walk into the lunch room to meet Pru. Seeing Emily puts the smallest of smiles on your face until a fraction of a second later, you notice the girl to her right.

"Allison," you croak.

_How? What? Why is she back here … and why are people coming up to hug her? You've got to be kidding me. One week was all it took apparently for Emily to forget everything you'd ever said to her regarding Allison._

As Paige continues to gawk at the scene in front of her, she can't help but notice the soft affection in Emily's eyes as she watches Allison like a hawk.

That's what hurts the most. Allison you think you can get over, but how Emily is looking at her. That, you weren't remotely prepared for regardless of how you two ended things. There's no wariness in Emily's body language, nothing to imply that she doesn't trust Allison. As a matter of fact, the only one that looks remotely put off by what she's witnessing is Hanna.

And it just so happens, that it's Hanna that sees you first. Her eyes convey pity or maybe sympathy. You can't tell nor do you want to. You look away from Hanna, not wanting anything she's willing to offer seeking out Pru. When you finally find her, your feet can't get you there quick enough.

As Paige makes her way to Pru's table, she finally looks up from her phone. Immediately concern washes over her features.

"Hey Paige. I was just texting you. Was hoping to catch you before you made it in here so you wouldn't have to see the disgusting display going on. God, I can't believe… hey … hey … Paige!

Pru's fingers snap into view as Paige finally glances up from the floor. You're so completely out of it right now and Pru senses it.

She lightly touches your arm and her voice takes on a much gentler tone, "Hey, why don't you get out of here. There's no rule that says we have to eat in here, ok?"

As you look at Pru's face and see how utterly sorry for you she looks, a nerve strikes in you. That's two people now that have looked at you with pity. Pity you can't stand to see right now. You straighten your spine as you take one last look over to their table. As you do, your eyes lock with person that's hurting you so deeply right now. Before anything can happen, you turn back to Pru.

"Yeah, you know what. I think I'm done for the day. I'll see you later." As you turn to go, Pru's hand tightens its grip on your arm.

"Paige. You don't have to leave school. You don't want to let her have that power over you."

_If only it was Allison I didn't want to see right now. I'm not the same Paige she knew and she doesn't have that same hold over me. It's the girl to her right._

"She doesn't Pru. I'm just not ready for this right now. I need a day to wrap my head around the fact that she's back, and apparently, some people are really happy about." As I drop my head, Pru's hand tightens even more.

"Paige," she says with a sigh, "Emily doesn't deserve you. She's not allowed to have a hold over you. What she's doing right now …" Pru glares over Paige's shoulder. "If I didn't think you would seriously hurt me, I'd march right over there and smack the both of them."

You smile with warm affection at your best friend. You know that was her subtle way of saying told you so. She was always getting in jabs about Emily and how she always had you at arms length. Needless to say, now that Emily had hurt her, Pru wasn't going to be so subtle about her jabs. Figuratively or literally.

"Thanks Pru, but I just .. I just need to get out of here. I'm just gonna head home, but don't worry about me, I'll be back here tomorrow with a smile on my face, just for you.

"Alright," Pru said, finally letting my arm go. "Just, don't go home and wallow ok? Go swimming, go workout, just don't get down on yourself Paige. You've done nothing wrong."

You nod at Pru, "I won't wallow I promise, but I'm not blameless Pru. Please stop acting like Emily's the only one in the wrong."

"She is! I'm your friend, not hers. It's my job to make you be the good guy. Now get out of here!"

Taking one last glance over at their table, you notice that everyone now has their back to you as they have all sat down. Shaking your head, you make your way out of the commons. _Wow __…__one week __… __Emily really must not care about you anymore. You thought she might__'__ve sent you a text or something. At least a heads up for what was about to happen but apparently you don__'__t warrant anything from her anymore and that__'__s hurts. You__'__re trying to move on, but yeah, that one stings._

* * *

You hit the front steps and head over to your bike. Unwrapping the chain, you throw it over your shoulder as your mount your bike and begin to head home. Rounding the trees you decide to take a shortcut through the back side of the school. Making your way past the storage containers out back you start to zone out when you hear a shout.

Snapping out of it, you look ahead to where the sound emanated from and you see that color again. Green. And it's smirking.

"Well, well. Look who's skipping out on school. Not making a great impression on me are you Paige. First you can't get away from me fast enough and now you almost run over me in your haste to play hooky."

Dismounting so that you can walk over to her, you start apologizing profusely. "Julia, I am so sorry. I take this way sometimes and it's usually deserted so I sort of ride and day dream at the same time. Again, I'm really sorry, I promise I didn't mean to."

"It's all good Paige. You weren't close to hitting me, I was just giving you a hard time. I kinda have a thing for that."

"I've noticed."

"What was that?" Julia asked.

_Shit. That was out loud. Just great Paige._ "It was nothing." Making your way back to your bike, you turn back to Julia. "I'm sorry again for almost hitting you. And I don't usually skip, I just need to not be here today."

"Hey, you don't have to explain yourself to me. It's not like I'm exactly following the rules out here." As she smirks again you finally notice the odd smell making it's way towards you. Your eyes snap to her hand and you see the tale tale white stick with smoke coming from it.

Smiling to yourself you look back up at Julia. "This school and town may be oblivious to a lot of things, but drugs seem to be the one thing everyone notices. I'm not sure I'd do that here."

Julia takes another puff as her smirk grows. "And just where would you suggest I partake in one of life's simple _pleasures?_"

A jolt runs through Paige at the inflection the other girl puts on that last word. _Oh wow. That um, that was unexpected._

"Uh, I uh …" Stammering , Paige tries again, "I don't know the best place, but…"

"Wait a minute! Are you telling me you've never tried a little pot before."

Julia says it in such disbelief, that Paige reddens at the question.

"No, I've never done it. I'm on the swim team here. Drugs and sports don't usually mix well. Never saw the point"

Eyes widening, Julia scoffs. "I don't know how I'd survive if I couldn't take the edge off. That's the point. Life's too complicated to not get a break every now and then."

_Ha. That's a understatement _Paige thinks._ Rosewood couldn't be more complicated if we tried._

"Yeah well, that's what swimming does for me. When I'm in the water my problems don't disappear, but I can turn them off for a bit."

Nodding at the description, Julia takes another drag. "Mmm yeah, smoking's easier. Me and exercise, much less sports, don't mix."

_You'd never notice that from looking at you. _Paige's eyes drift down and then back up again. _Jesus she's gorgeous._

A throat clearing snaps Paige out of her perusal. She catches Julia's smiling eyes and gives a small head dip with a grin as she swings her leg back over her bike.

"Hey Paige. I know what you just said, but do you want to give it a try?"

Paige has that deer in the headlights look everyone's seen before. One the one hand, she knows she absolutely shouldn't. Drug tests happen at random here and she would lose everything she's worked for when it comes to swimming. On the other hand, this is one of those days where she'd really like the easy way out.

As Julia stares at a contemplative Paige, she can't help but to do her own perusal. Starting with Paige's long legs, to her defined torso with the faintest outline of abs, all the way to her gorgeous head and ever so expressive eyes. _What is it about her? Why do I need to know her__…_ Shaking her head, Julia tries again.

"C'mon Paige. Live a little on the wild side. No one looks like they could use it more than you right now."

Cocking her head to the side, Paige makes up her mind.

"Not today. I need to get out of here, literally and not just mentally. But, I'm not saying no, ok?"

"I'm going to hold you to that Paige."

"See that you do." Julia's face lit up at those words. "I was serious before though. Be careful. The teachers around here have a sixth sense about that stuff your holding."

With an easy smile, Julia nodded at Paige's words and strode off around the last container with a small wave.

As she disappeared, Paige kept looking at the spot where she once stood. _Did I just __… __no __… __yeah you did Paige __… __you just agreed to smoke pot, with a stranger. A really hot and really interesting stranger, but one none the less. What happened to no more girls for the rest of the school year? Oh shush __… __she was right, I need to live a little more. Get out of this freaking Rosewood bubble of mystery._

With a quick shake of her, Paige dismissed the argument in her head and started to pedal her way home. As she neared the trail behind the school she couldn't help but mimic Julia's earlier thoughts, w_hy do I need to know her?_


End file.
